SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department updated its policy on violent animal attacks after a woman's dog was attacked and killed by another dog.
On Sept. 15, Bonnie Rae made an unexpected call to 911 after her dog was brutally killed by a loose pit bull running through her neighborhood. Since that day, a new policy has been implemented by SPD for situations involving an animal attack.
Rae still thinks about that day.
“Life-altering, not just scary. I’m afraid to walk my new little dog. Making a bad situation worse. I found out the hard way that 911 was not the number to call,” she said.
Before that day, Spokane County Regional Animal Protective Service was designated to calls that involved an animal attack.
It took 35 minutes for them to arrive and once they were there, the same pit bull that killed Bonnie’s dog came back and bit her daughter.
She called 911 again.
“They answered that they could see on the computer SCRAPS was already here and there was no reason to send anybody out,” she said.
That traumatic experience resulted in a new policy change in the Spokane Police Department.
“In light of this recent event and a couple of others, we think it’s just going to be a little bit safer, a little bit more prudent to make sure we get a commissioned officer out there on those kinds of calls,” Spokane Police Sgt. Terry Preuninger explained.
Preuninger said calls that go through separate entities like 911 are now more likely to be included in a police dispatch.
As for Rae, she has a new dog but that fatal day has left her scarred. She does believe the new update could prevent something like this from happening again.
“The next time an old lady calls 911 seeking assistance on a vicious dog attack, the 911 call will go right into the triage they call it, like any other 911 call,” she said.